Recent morphological changes (2009-2022) on the floodplain of the Guadalporcún River, province of Cádiz (Southern Spain)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17735/cyg.v39i3-4.97474Keywords:
Avulsion; floodplains: evolutionary changes; anthropogenic intervention; Guadalporcún River; AndalucíaAbstract
In 2009 and 2013 two avulsion events occurred in the Guadalporcún River, a tributary of the Guadalete River, SW Spain. Google Earth and Geamap images acquired between 2002 and 2022 were examined and a timeline of events constructed. Exposed floodplain materials to a depth of up to 2 m reveal about 80 cm of sandy alluvium resting on a firm buried soil formed on older sandy alluvium with occasional pebble and boulder clasts. The avulsions, likely caused by logjams, breached the natural levee, and formed channels, less than 1 m deep in 2009 and more than 2 m deep in 2013. In 2013 the buried soil played an important role in the retreat of a knickpoint, the main process in avulsion channel formation. Following each avulsion event, a local landowner repaired the levee and levelled the floodplain, filling the avulsion channel with building rubble. The occurrence of two avulsion events separated by a few years shows that reestablishment of the original channel after the 2009 event was temporary and that similar events are likely to occur in the future.
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